I am in need of the opinion of those more experience than myself. I am looking to buy a dedicated white tail rifle and want something different than a .270 Winchester. On paper there dosn't seem to be any real difference between the 270 WSM and the .280 Remington. So I'm wondering if between the two, does one have any real advantage over the other, or is it a case of six of one, half a dozen of the other?

Thanks to any and all who take the time to help me out.

You can expand that a bit.....the .270 Winchester, the .280 Remington, the 7mm RemMag are basically equivalent when you talk about using them on white-tail deer...put the 7mm RemMag slightly at the head of the class along with the new .270 WSM but realistically speaking not a lot of difference.

If you handload the 280 will give you a slightly larger selection of bullets. If you only buy factory ammo, then the 270 or 7mm Rem Mag are probably your best choices as you can buy ammo practically anywhere. Personally, I prefer the 280. FWIW - Dan

Sorry Bigfoot, I just reread your post with a little more attention. The 270 WSM rifle would probably be a little lighter than a 7mm Rem Mag rifle, and again the 7 would have more bullet choice. In factory ammo the 7 mag would be much more available then the WSM. Of course, now you have the 7mm WSM to choose from as well. - Dan

Thanks for the input gentelman. I should have icluded that I reload, and all I shoot out of my rifles (well 99% anyway)are my own reloads. You are correct in the fact that there are a larger slection of bullets in .284 as compaired to .270.

Thanks again for all the info.

The initial post said "a dedicated white-tailed deer rifle" so I didn't think a wide variety of bullets was indicated.

With the WSM you will likely have an effective magazine capacity of just 2 rounds. Although the specs call for 3, most people seem to be having trouble actually getting the third round in the magazine and then getting it to feed properly if they do. This is just one of the unavoidable compromises involved with the short-fat rounds.

With the .280, you will have a magazine capacity of four, or with actions like Mausers or Sakos, five, for a total of five or six available shots. While 90% of the game I've taken in 4 decades of hunting has been with the need of only one shot, two or three of my very nicest heads would have been lost without the fifth shot.

If you pick the WSM, you must be prepared to live with the magazine limitations.

Big Foot,

Not a thing wrong with the .270 and 130's for deer. Probably darned near perfect. But I'm like you and wanted something different. I ended up with a Rem 700 classic in .280 Rem. It didn't shoot well initially, further investigation revealed a bad barrel. So I had a 26" Douglas installed and it shot VERY well. I used 140's, 160's,etc, then finally decided on 150 partitions as a sort of universal bullet for deer,elk, antelope,etc. Used it in South Africa on smaller antelope on two trips as well as a nice black wildebeest.

I liked the .280 so much that a few years ago when I horse traded into a Weatherby Ultra Lt Wt in .280 Rem .....I kept it. With a 2.5-8X Leupold, ammo and lt nylon sling its an ounce short of 7 pounds, ready to hunt. Last year I took my best ever whitetail with that rifle.

For me the .280 Rem has been a pretty lucky choice. Its the one I recomend to you.

FN

In theory, the 270 WSM is supposed to be a more accurate rifle. However, at Whitetail ranges, there probably won't be enough to worry about.
I would recommend the 280.

Foot:

MHO would be that all the rounds that every poster mentioned would be superb. (Along with the 7-08 which would probably be my choice) But the real question is, what rifle do you have your heart set on?? While you can buy a .270 or 7 remag in every rifle on the planet, the .270 WSM and the .280 are limited.

Why doncha just out go looking at new guns? I'll bet you find one you haven't had before that is just calling your name. Then buy that new sweetheart in whatever caliber it comes in.

(course if it comes in all those calibers, then this strategy won't work, and you'll have to go back to logic.)

JimF

OldFart: What is this theory that makes a 270 Wsm a more accurate rifle? Is that the one that says all rifles in 22PPC and 6PPC will shoot into the 2's all day with any powder or bullets?

Not that I have ever used enough different calibers to make a realistic comparison, but the 280 has always done its job very well.

There is just something about a 280. Maybe a 7x57 on speed, heh?

Will

If you want something different than a 270 than a 280 isnt much of a change, although they are both superb rounds. I havent had the opportunity to try a WSM but they sure look nice. I would think the 270 wsm would be better suited for whitetail, it should have a better range and the 280 could be used for considerably larger game.

My choice would be the new 7mmwsm.

For a dedicated whitetail rifle, I'd be very happy with any one of the cartridges mentioned in this thread. They're all great!

AD

Fat Albert,
The theory is that short fat cartridges are supposed to be more accurate than long skinny cartridges (which is why the 6mm and 22 ppc are inherently accurate). That said, I ordered a 7mm WSM barrel from Fred that had a rough time holding a 2.5 inch group at 100 (A bargin bin 30-06 barrel I have shot circles around it).
After the rumors that the WSM rounds were too much for the Encore started floating around, I sold the barrel rather than messing with it anymore. That has soured my opinion of the WSM's.

Big Foot,

I think the choice would depend more on the ranges and conditions you encounter in your whitetail hunting. If you are shooting 75 yards from a tree stand it might be one thing, but entirely something else if you are shooting over 250 yards in more open conditions.

I have a .280 Rem, well it says 7 mm Express on the barrel -- but it is still a .280. I shot a lot of metallic silhouette with it using 140 grain Match Kings.

I also have a 6.5-'06 that I use on Western deer in open country. It will zoom 120 grain loads.

But mostly when I go for whitetail I take a .308 Win carbine. Check out the .260 Remington for your deer whacker, or even the 7mm-08 or the 7X57. They are all great.

I owned a .270 Win for 5 minutes once, but that is about my experience level with them.

jim dodd

For a dedicated deer rifle I'd be happy enough with any of the cartridges mentioned, but my own preference for a deer rifle has been and will always remain the great 270WCF. It does all that needs doing on any deer and ammo is ALWAYS available in any corner gas station or shop that carries hunting supplies.

I don't believe that there is a nickles worth of difference in the 270, 280,30-06,7 mag.,300 mags,7x57,7-08,308,and a host of others when it comes to killing power and ability to kill and very little practical difference in trajectory...

Animals are just like a can of carnation milk, all you got to do is punch a hole in the rascal and let all the milk out.

Ray, it appears that your adroit comment took all of the air out of this very entertaining thread, as the thread has been dormant for weeks! (You punched a hole in the rascal and let all the milk out!)

Now here I am, having spent the last few weeks drooling over 270s and 280s and 30/06s, unable to choose between the three of them, when just tonight I decided that a 280 Remington launching 160 grain Nosler partitions at ~ 2900 fps would be a real hoot, when your sage post tells me what I already know -- that my current 7x57 will handle most if not all my hunting needs.



But I WANT another rifle!! To be WILD AT HEART I can't just settle on the 7x57. And I dare not show your post to my wife upstairs! She has never carried a rifle on a hunt a day in her life, but has already come to the conclusion that my 7x57 is all I need, and all the other rifles are just gravy and "boys with toys".

I must convince her that I NEED that 280 Remington! I need that 160 grain Nosler clocking at 2900 fps!



[ 09-01-2002, 07:02: Message edited by: Dogger ]